Sweet Forgiveness
by BekahAM
Summary: Bilbo Baggins' dreams were plagued by the past. As he sat on the boat to the Undying Lands, awaiting his final breath, his last thoughts were of the King under the Mountain, and his nephews, and how if he could do anything in this life, it would be to save them. He thought it was all a dream, until it was not.


**Disclaimer- I do not own The Hobbit or really anything for that matter... **

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><p>Bilbo Baggins sat on the last boat departing Middle Earth for the Undying Lands, knowing that there wasn't much time left in his life. He began to reflect on all of the adventures he'd had in his grand 131 years, but his mind kept coming back to the one that had impacted his life so much. The unexpected adventure he'd taken after a last minute decision that changed his life forever.<p>

Oh, how he wished he could have seen The Lonely Mountain one last time. To see his old friends, even so much as to have them completely destroy Bag-End again, he would give anything. But this was the end, he could feel the pull of the eternal darkness upon him. At this point, he wouldn't even make the full journey to the Undying Lands.

The last thoughts that crossed Bilbo Baggins' mind before his eyes closed were of his friends Fili and Kili, heirs of Durin, the youngest of the company, whom he had watched be slaughtered by the enemy in front of his very own eyes. Nightmares of their deaths still plagued Bilbo's dreams even 80 years later; And Thorin, King under the Mountain, whose last words in this life were of friendship to him, before he, too, passed into the halls of waiting. Bilbo had hoped every day since that Mahal had reunited the family in the afterlife, though Bilbo, himself, had never felt whole afterward.

"My dear Frodo, if there were one thing in this life I could go back and change, it would be my actions during the Battle of the Five Armies, and every moment since." Bilbo had written in the final pages of his tale, and thus were the last words to cross his mind.

Alongside the sunset, Bilbo Baggins' eyes closed for the very last time, or so he thought. That was, until he woke.

As Bilbo's eyes focused on the chaos surrounding him, he realized that he was standing in the middle of a battle, a very large one. He quickly realized that it was indeed the Battle of the Five Armies, as he saw Dwarves, Men, and Elves fighting the slew of Orcs and beasts.

For a moment, he believed it to be a dream, and a cruel one at that; but then he noticed an Orc racing towards him, sword barred for attack. As if by muscle memory alone, Bilbo raised Sting and blocked the incoming assault, the sheer reality of it not fully hitting yet. The Orc attempted to swing again and Bilbo acted without thought, stabbing it directly through the chest.

After the initial shock of the fight wore off, Bilbo finally realized that he was standing in the old market of Dale. He heard his name being called and quickly recognized the voice as that of Gandalf.

"Bilbo Baggins, what on earth are you doing out here in the midst of battle? I thought you had gone to safety." Gandalf asked quickly, seeing the hobbit with his sword drawn, black blood dripping from it.

"I couldn't leave, Gandalf." Bilbo told him, honestly. Gandalf looked as if he were about to say something before his focus was directed at four dwarves, riding on the backs of armored mountain sheep, swords barred, headed for Ravenhill.

"Thorin-" Bilbo began, unsure if he could even say anything more. This was still too unreal to him.

"And Fili, Kili, and Dwalin. He is taking his best warriors with him to cut the head off the snake." Gandalf finished. Bilbo froze as he remembered the secondary attack from Ravenhill, it was a trap!

"No!" The hobbit yelled. "It's a trap! That's exactly what Azog wants! There is a secondary force coming from the North!"

"How did you come by this information?" Gandalf asked in confused at the hobbit.

"Nevermind how I know it, the fact is that I do, and I need to warn them, NOW!" Bilbo yelled.

"You will never make it up there, the Orcs will see you coming!" Gandalf warned, but Bilbo felt into his side pocket, feeling the ring. As precious as it felt to be in his hand again, he would only use it this one last time.

"No, they won't." Bilbo said to Gandalf, not even bothering to stay for more argument. He needed to make sure that Thorin did not send Fili and Kili to scout the tower.

He placed the ring on his finger and disappeared, the objects around him light and dark as he ran through battle. It had been so long since his joints were free of pain, since he could run like this, but now was not the time to think of such things. He ran as fast as his large feet would take him, directly to the top of Ravenhill, pulling the ring off his finger as he made it to the top where the four dwarves were standing.

His breath caught for a second, seeing the living, breathing king and his two nephews standing there, trying to make plans with each other.

"Bilbo?" Fili said, being the first to see their outcast burglar. The others turned their heads to look at the hobbit.

"Master Baggins, what are you doing here?" Thorin asked incredulously.

After Bilbo caught his breath, he replied. "I'm here to warn you! It's a trap, Azog wanted you to come to Ravenhill! There are more troops coming from the North, waiting for his signal!"

Thorin's eyes widened at the hobbit.

"Fili, take your brother and go scout the tower. If you see anything, do not engage, just report back to me." Thorin began to tell his nephews, but Bilbo shouted.

"NO! Do not send them! It's a trap, Thorin! I know I have betrayed your trust before, but you must trust me now. If we are to stay and fight, then we must stay together. They will be upon us at any moment!" He begged.

Fili and Kili looked to Thorin for orders.

"Very well, if Master Baggins is speaking the truth, then we shall remain together." Thorin said and they nodded. He then turned his attention to Bilbo, "Master Baggins, I wish to take back what I said at the gate, I- I was not myself. If there is a battle to be had, I suggest that you get as far away as possible, and if I should part, may it be in friendship with you." Thorin said, bringing tears to Bilbo's eyes as he remembered Thorin's farewell from before, but he stood his ground.

"I'm not going anywhere. If you will fight, then I will fight as well." Bilbo said with deep emotion.

"Then you will have a place by my side during battle." Thorin said motioning for Bilbo to stand next to him as they prepared for what was to come next.

They could feel the ground shaking before seeing the first wave of Orcs jump over the walls. The vile creatures ran at the group in haste.

"Baruk Khazād!" Thorin yelled in Khuzdul as they ascended. The five swung and sliced, killing every creature in their path, the count well over a hundred by now. After the first wave, Thorin saw Azog the Defiler come from out of the shadows of the tower, watching as his troops created more carnage on the battlefield.

Thorin began to move in that direction, but Bilbo noticed the movement and stopped him quickly.

"You cannot go after him alone, Thorin. Remember what I said, if we are to stay, we will do so together." Bilbo pleaded with the vengeful king, who reluctantly nodded.

"Fili, Kili, Dwalin, I think it is time we end this, once and for all." Thorin said and the others immediately understood.

"Aye, we are with you, my King." Dwalin said, holding his axe, ready for more battle.

"For Durin's sons!" Thorin yelled as they all stepped onto the icy river to face Azog and his spawn, Bolg.

As soon as Azog saw all five of them instead of just Thorin, he immediately sent more Orcs in their direction. Fili, Kili, and Dwalin had surrounded Bilbo, knowing that he was the weakest warrior of them all. However, Bilbo had more fight in him than they all knew. He had been through this before. He had felt the pain of losing three of the four people surrounding him and he would not go through that again. He would fight to his very last breath to save his friends if it came down to it.

As they walked across the ice, fighting orcs along the way, they noticed that Azog now had a jagged blade impaled through his missing arm, and thick ball and chain attached to the other.

As Dwalin battled the rogue orcs, Azog commanded Bolg to attack Fili and Kili, while he saved himself for Thorin.

Bolg came charging at the two young brothers, nearly double their height. His blows were strong, but he was not very quick. Fili and Kili seemed to notice this and began to use it to their advantage.

While they battled with Bolg, Thorin began to fight Azog. The large pale orc attempted to throw the ball and chain at Thorin several times, only to succeed in breaking the ice surrounding them.

Meanwhile, Bilbo, whom had been battling rogue orcs alongside Dwalin, had noticed that Bolg was wearing the two brothers out, his strength overcoming their speed. Bilbo watched Fili get knocked to the ground, and his body started moving on it's own accord. He ran directly behind the giant sized orc and jumped on it's back, his arms around Bolg's neck, distracting him just long enough so that Kili could stab the Orc directly through his skull, but not before Bolg had thrown Bilbo off.

Bilbo landed several feet away, his vision spinning and hazy from the fall. He stood, Sting in his hand, and began to walk, or stumble back to where he had been. As his vision cleared, he noticed Azog, leaning over Thorin, who was lying on the ice, his blade the only thing in between Azog's sword and his chest.

The only thing that came to Bilbo's mind was that farewell speech and how he longed to never hear those words come from Thorin again. He found himself bounding towards the pale orc, his sword glowing blue as it was outstretched above his head.

Thorin watched the pale orc, knowing that he could not hold his blade much longer. Just as Thorin was about to let go, Azog's sickening smirk was wiped from his face as a small blue blade slid directly through his chest. Thorin's eyes widened as he saw Bilbo pulling Sting out of the pale orc's back, the filth's eyes going blank before he fell to the side, dead.

With the eagles hovering above and Beorn cutting his way through the troops, they retreated, almost immediately following the death of their leader.

After Bilbo pulled the sword from the pale orc's back, he fell to the ground, his head aching badly, and he could feel blood seeping down his dirtied face.

Thorin, who was helped to his feet by his nephews, only bore a slash across his face and a limp where Azog had sliced through his foot. Upon seeing the hobbit, lying on the reddened ice, Thorin and the others rushed to his side.

"Master Baggins?" Thorin asked, but got no response, he feared the worst. "Bilbo!" He yelled, and saw the hobbit's chest rise and fall with each breath, signaling that the Halfling was still alive, only unconscious.

Kili, the least injured of the five of them, carried Bilbo to the edge of the rocks, where they waited for the others to show up.

Fili had a long gash across his leg and shoulder, while Dwalin had a large slash across his chest. Neither were life-threatening, but still gruesome, nonetheless.

It wasn't long before most of the company had made their way up to Ravenhill to check on their king. Oin was amongst the first, and as the company healer, he looked at Bilbo's wound.

"Will he survive?" Thorin asked immediately.

"A hobbit's head is not as hard as a dwarf's, but given time he will wake." Oin told Thorin, who nodded in thanks.

"Our burglar saved not only my life, but the lives of Fili and Kili as well. I have rescinded my banishment and ask that we give him the best care we can offer." Thorin informed the rest of the company.

"And that we will, my king." Balin said bowing his head with a proud smile. "Lord Dain is waiting for you by the gate when you are ready."

"Very well. Kili, are you able to carry Master Baggins back to the mountain?" Thorin asked his nephew who nodded quickly.

And thus, they began to make their way down from Ravenhill, back to the gates of Erebor.

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><p><strong>Alright, my dears. Some have asked for a time travel fic <strong>**that correlated directly with the events from the movie (minus Tauriel), so here it is. Let me know what you think.**


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